Introspection Junction

Reason for the existence of mental illness such as Schizophrenia is the dichotomy of individual reality and social reality. An individual’s reality exists solely on the basis of that person’s perception. Imagine a person who cannot see. That person will have a very deviant opinion on beauty which might be rooted in sounds or voices, rather than visual aesthetics.

Coming back to persons with their senses functioning optimally, we find that individuals in proto-societies devised a method to amalgamate discrete realities into one single, all encompassing one by submitting themselves to a common ‘totem’.

Definition of totem. 1a : an object (such as an animal or plant) serving as the emblem of a family or clan and often as a reminder of its ancestry; also : a usually carved or painted representation of such an object

b : a family or clan identified by a common totemic object.

It is only natural for a species like the intelligent humanoids as we appear to be, to devise such methods to offset our mass space dementia, floating along hopelessly and unpredictably through uncharted territory with an obscure history that noone really knows when it actually began. The punishment or consequence for not accepting the social totem is banishment to the fringes of societal existence, or death in most extreme cases. Territorial and aggressive as we are, most clans prefer to kill the non-believer than risk a future uprising that will topple their precious totem.

The author sees an end to the relevance of totems in the propagation of social anthropology only after a technological breakthrough to link individual minds of persons into some kind of hive-mind so that a thought can be said to be shared absolutely as opposed to being strictly discrete. That brings in even more conundrums but we’ll worry about it when we get there. The Conjoiners in Alistair Reynolds’ Revelation Space saga is a valid imagining of that scenario.

Until that era of Transenlightenment, we are going be apes on a floating rock, murdering opposing clans with differing totems, in an endless gallop to merge all realities into that ever so slippery and incomprehensible single reality of an Ultimate Truth.

In this day & age, how would you recognise a true prophet walking among you without anything short of getting thunked on the head with a lead pipe, carried by the prophet of course.

You cannot be blamed for this state of things because in the world we live in, the average person is inundated with useless information shutting him/her down into a passive state of adherence to the status quo. The number of people you’ve met during the course of a year will now include all the human beings you’ve met, as well as the quirky characters you’ve been exposed to in all the movies you saw, or the mindblowing ones in the books you’ve read. (The author of this blog recommends the characters in books since they’re well fleshed out than the other two sets of losers)

On top of this quandary, there are the vast number of false prophets walking amongst us. The ones who claim to have a guaranteed position upon the shoulders of a supposed creator when judgement day finally comes. It is assumed that you can achieve salvation only if you communicate with that creator using this person as a conduit. Their malevolence feeds on the weak and the destitute!

Coming back to our initial query of how to determine a bona fide prophet in this day & age…

Ironically enough, the one person who unknowingly discovered the procedure was one of the scions of our present consumer culture, Steve Jobs. And the technique he came to be known for was Reality Distortion. In older days, this was known by another name, a miracle.

The reality you are experiencing right now was manufactured by people similar to yourself who’ve come before you, but it is also possible to completely change it and mould it into a new phase. The proof of this lies with Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle.

You have every right to be skeptic about any such methods, and you should be. If I want to imbibe anything through this blog, it is this….

In the aftermath of the Paris attacks, editorials have been popping up dime a dozen analyzing as well as normalizing these kinds of wanton destruction and disregard for sanctity of human life. Especially the humans walking the street.

If they hate Hollande for his foreign policy, the terrorists ideally should have made an assassination attempt on his life, instead they target common civilians. If Osama and his Al’Qaeda organisation hated American foreign policy, then they should’ve gone for the seat of Bush administration, or his immediate family. Instead it is always the civilians, ordinary folk like you and I, who are at the receiving end of their mindless wrath. This fact exposes the lazy cowards for what they really are in the grand scheme of things.

As it is with any discipline of science, there is no need to overthink the reason behind acts of terrorism. Always remember to Keep It Simple.

Two words encapsulate the cause of this widespread unrest.

Narcissism & Relevance.

Politics and foreign policies are pointed out as reasons just to distract the public at large.

That’s what you want in life. You want to feel relevant. You want to feel connected.

Our entire planet is progressing at a blazing pace, but a large segment of this burgeoning population is unable to let go of their ancient beliefs and traditions. In order to push their agenda, youngsters are recruited, youngsters who have become disillusioned with the on-goings of daily life and want to put their stamp on an indifferent world.

And there you have it. At this meeting of post-modern narcissism and old world irrelevance, terrorism is birthed!

They aim to make you respect them through fear.

I know you are scared. I am too. But we have not evolved these many million years just to give in to some insolent children with guns.

Even as the streets get louder with hate propaganda, remember that you’re surrounded by helpers. Always look for these helpers whenever in trouble. We are everywhere and outnumber the terrorists many times over.